Method and Interface for Historical Display of Market Information

ABSTRACT

Trading software may receive information from an exchange. The trading software may track historical bid and ask information for a tradeable object. The trading software may display historical market depth information for the tradeable object on a trading screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/844,362, filed Sep. 3, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/229,676, filed Sep. 10, 2011, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,218,625, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/415,979, filed May 2, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,036,977,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/305,308,filed Nov. 26, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,041,623, the entire contents ofeach of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronic trading. Morespecifically, it relates to a method for processing and displayingtrading information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many exchanges throughout the world now support electronic trading.Electronic trading has made it possible for an increasing number ofpeople to actively participate in a market at any given time. Theincrease in the number of potential market participants hasadvantageously led to, among other things, a more competitive market andgreater liquidity.

A trader can connect to an exchange, for example, using a client device,and the exchange can serve as a host. Once connected, software runningon the client allows the trader to log onto one or more exchanges andparticipate in one or more markets. Some clients run software thatcreates specialized interactive trading screens. In general, the tradingscreens enable traders to enter orders into the market, obtain marketquotes, and monitor positions. The range and quality of featuresavailable varies according to the specific trading software.

One such feature often displayed to traders is the current market depth.The current market depth represents the quantity of the tradeable objectbids or asks currently outstanding at a particular price level. Forexample, a price level may have offers to buy particular quantities atthat price level, or it may have offers to sell particular quantities atthat price level. At any given time, a market typically includes offersto buy particular quantities at multiple price levels and offers to sellat particular quantities at multiple price levels. Among the outstandingoffers to buy and sell, the inside market generally refers to thehighest current bid price and lowest current ask price.

During trading, a trader may notice that the inside market seems toremain at a particular price level. This may occur when the price levelhas a large volume of available quantity. As orders fill at the pricelevel, they may be subsequently replaced by new orders. Thus, smallorders may not match enough volume to trade through this price level,thereby creating a feeling of resistance to moving away from that pricelevel. While the trader may seemingly notice this resistance, knowntrading displays only provide the trader with views of the currentmarket information. The trader cannot view the historical marketactivity at that, or other, price levels.

In the following detailed description, a trading application and tradinginterface for displaying historical market information are described.These tools provide advantages, as described below, to a trader in anelectronic trading environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The presently preferred embodiments of the present invention aredescribed herein with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a preferred embodiment of a trading screen for displayinghistorical market information;

FIG. 2 is a preferred embodiment of the trading screen of FIG. 1 inwhich historical bid information and historical ask information arecombined into an interleaved display;

FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred color-coding scheme for differentiatingbid quantity and ask quantity information in the trading screen of FIG.2, where one color is used for historical bid information and anothercolor is used for historical ask information;

FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred color-coding scheme for differentiatingbid quantity and ask quantity information in the trading screen of FIG.2, where multiple colors are used to indicate historical bid volumes andhistorical ask volumes;

FIG. 5 is a preferred embodiment of a trading screen for displayinghistorical market information using a graphical representation; and

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate historical market graphs that may be used in thetrading screen of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Many different exchanges support electronic trading. Electronic tradingallows a trader to interact with the exchanges from a remote location,such as by using a computer connected to the exchanges over one or morecomputer networks. Once connected to an exchange, the trader may receivemarket information about tradeable objects that are traded on theexchange. The trader may additionally trade the tradeable objects, suchas by entering buy or sell orders. A tradeable object can be any object,such as stocks, options, bonds, futures, currency, warrants, funds, orother financial objects. Other objects, for example, grains, energy andmetals can also be traded. Of course, these list are not exhaustive, andany other object for which there exists a market can be traded.Tradeable objects can be “real,” such as products that are listed by anexchange for trading, or they can by “synthetic,” such as a combinationof real products that is created by a trader. Of course, a tradeableobject could actually be a combination of other tradeable objects, suchas a class of tradeable objects.

Exchanges that support electronic trading are generally based on one ormore hosts, one or more computer networks, and clients. In general, thehost includes one or more centralized computers to form the electronicheart. Its operations may include order matching, maintaining orderbooks and positions, price information, and managing and updating adatabase that records such information. The host may also be equippedwith an external interface that maintains uninterrupted contact to theclients and possibly other trading-related systems.

Market participants may link to the host through one or more networks. Anetwork is a group of two or more computers linked together. There aremany types of networks such as local area networks and wide areanetworks. Networks can also be characterized by topology, protocol, andarchitecture. However, any type of network configuration can be used inelectronic trading. For example, some market participants may link tothe host through a direct connection such as a T1 line or an IntegratedDigital Services Network (“ISDN”) connection. When connecting through adirect connection, a market participant may connect through one or morecommon network components such as high-speed servers, routers, andgateways, and so on. Of course, a market participant may also connect tothe exchange through the Internet or another type of network.

A method, system and interface for electronic trading with an exchangeis described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/590,692, filed Jun.9, 2000, entitled “Click Based Trading with Intuitive Grid Display ofMarket,” and issued Aug. 3, 2004 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,132. Similarmethods, systems, and interfaces are is also described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/589,751, filed Jun. 9, 2000, entitled “ClickedBased Trading with Market Depth Display,” and issued Aug. 30, 2005 asU.S. Pat. No. 6,938,011. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,772,132 and 6,938,011 are bothcommonly assigned to Trading Technologies International, Inc., and theentire contents of both are incorporated herein by reference. Moreover,the trading application may implement tools for trading tradeableobjects that are described in a U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/125,894 filed on Apr. 19, 2002, entitled “Trading Tools forElectronic Trading,” and issued Jun. 17, 2008 as U.S. Pat. No.7,389,268. The U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,268 patent is also assigned toTrading Technologies International, Inc., and the entire contents of theU.S. Pat. No. 7,389,268 patent are incorporated herein by reference. Thethree above-named patents describe network topologies, interfaces andgeneral trading functionality and techniques that may be used inimplementing the preferred embodiments described herein.

Trading screens may enable traders to enter and cancel orders, obtainmarket information, and monitor positions while implementing varioustrading strategies including those previously used on the floor of anexchange. For example, using the trading screen a trader may receiveinformation about tradeable objects traded on the exchange.Additionally, the trader may use the trading screen, for example, toplace buy and sell orders for the tradeable objects or to otherwisetrade the tradeable objects.

Once connected to the exchange, the trading software may receiveinformation from the exchange, which can in turn be displayed to thetrader. For example, the trading software may receive a list oftradeable objects traded on the exchange. Additionally, the tradingsoftware may receive market information for each tradeable object, suchas bid prices, bid quantities, ask prices, ask quantities, andadditionally, some exchanges provides prices and quantities for pastsales, and other market related information. The information may becontinuously or regularly provided to the trading software, which allowsthe trading software to update the trading screen with current marketinformation.

After the trading software receives this information from the exchange,the trading software can format and display the information. One suchfeature that is often displayed by trading software is at least aportion of the current market depth. The current market depth generallyrefers to the outstanding bid and ask quantities at particular prices inthe market for the tradeable object. Thus, the current market depth mayindicate quantities as offers to buy or sell at a particular pricelevel. A market generally has offers to buy specified quantitiesoutstanding at various different price levels and offers to sellspecified quantities outstanding at various different price levels, andthe current number of bid and ask quantities at the different pricelevels may be displayed to a trader.

The current outstanding bid and ask quantities may allow a trader to seethe current state of the market. Based on this information, the tradermay watch the movement of the market and may also place trades. Astrades execute, the outstanding bid and ask quantities may be updated,and the new market information may then be displayed to the trader. Inthe course of trading, the inside market may move in association withorders entering the market.

On the other hand, the inside market may seemingly remain at aparticular price level, thereby creating a feeling of resistance tomoving away from that price level. Large volume depth over a long periodof time can create the feeling of resistance, because smaller orders maynot match enough volume to “trade through” the resistance level. Thus,as orders match at this price level, they may be replenished by neworders. This can seemingly prevent the market from moving to matchorders at other levels.

In addition to viewing currently outstanding bid and ask quantities, itwould be beneficial for a trader to see historical market information,such as market depth, which could give the trader further insight intothe patterns of the market. For example, the trader could see if thehistorical market depth was thin or heavy at a price level, or thetrader could see if there had been resistance at a particular pricelevel. Viewing the historical market information may allow a trader todetermine if it would be more difficult to match new orders at a pricelevel, for example, by showing the trader that there is resistance atthe price level. Therefore, the historical market information may helpthe trader make decisions on whether to place an order and at what pricelevel to place the order.

FIG. 1 is a preferred embodiment of a trading screen for displayinghistorical market information. As depicted in FIG. 1, the trading screenincludes a price column 100. The price column 100 displays variousdifferent price levels for a tradeable object. The current ask quantitycolumn 102 displays current ask quantities at various different pricelevels. The current bid quantity column 104 displays current bidquantities at various different price levels. Thus, the current askquantity column 102 and the current bid quantity column 104 display thecurrent market depth. The bid and ask quantities in the bid and askquantity columns 102, 104 may be displayed using any type of indicator.For example, the indicator may be graphical representation of quantity(e.g., colors, bars, etc. . . ), or the indicator may be a textualrepresentation of quantity, such as a number. Various combinations ofindicators may also be used, for example, a text representation incombination with a color.

As depicted in FIG. 1, the outstanding bid quantities and ask quantitiesare displayed in association with price levels arranged along a commonstatic axis or scale of prices. The price levels are fixed in relationto the bid and ask quantity columns 102, 104, such that the indicatorsin these columns 102, 104 may move relative to the static axis ofprices. For example, the bid and ask quantities displayed by the tradingscreen may change, and the inside market may move away from the pricelevel depicted in FIG. 1. While the trading application may update thequantities, and while the position of the inside market may change, therange of price levels displayed in the price column 100 and therespective positions of the price levels displayed in the price column100 may remain fixed.

It should be noted that the static axis of prices is not necessarilyimmovable with respect its physical position on the display screen, butrather may be moved to various different positions on the display. Theuser may use a mouse or other input device, for example, to repositionstatic axis of prices to a different location on the display screen,such as by dragging the static axis of prices from one side of thedisplay screen to the other side of the display screen. In anotherexample, the user may vary which portion of the static axis of prices isdisplayed, such as by scrolling up or down the axis or by entering arepositioning command.

One commercially available trading application that allows a user totrade in an electronic trading environment, and which may be used in thepreferred embodiments, is X_TRADER® from Trading TechnologiesInternational, Inc. of Chicago, Ill. X_TRADER® also provides anelectronic trading interface, referred to as MD Trader™, in whichworking orders and/or bid and ask quantities are displayed inassociation with a static price axis or scale. Portions of the X_TRADER®and the MD Trader™-style display are described in the previouslyreferenced applications. It should be understood, however, that thepreferred embodiments are not limited to any particular display, such asX_TRADER® or MD Trader™-style displays, but may be used with a varietyof different display types.

In addition to displaying current market depth information, the tradingscreen of FIG. 1 displays historical market depth information. A firsthistorical ask quantity column 106 displays ask quantities that wereavailable at a previous time. A second historical ask quantity column108 and a third historical ask quantity column 110 also display askquantities available at previous times. These columns 106, 108, 110,therefore, allow a trader to view the available ask quantities atprevious times and to see the historical market depth at the variousdifferent price levels. The historical ask quantity columns 106, 108,110 display the available ask quantities at previous times, and theprevious times may be configured in a variety of different ways. Asshown in FIG. 1, the first historical ask quantity column 106 displaysthe available ask quantities at one time period (i.e., t-1 in thisexample) prior to the current time. The second historical ask quantitycolumn 108 displays the available ask quantities at five time periods(i.e., t-5 in this example) prior to the current time, and the thirdhistorical ask quantity column 110 displays the available ask quantitiesat ten time periods (i.e., t-10 in this example) to the current time.

FIG. 1 displays a preferred embodiment using a “snapshot” view of thehistorical data. In the snapshot view, the historical ask quantitycolumns 106, 108, 110 each display the available ask quantitiesoutstanding at their respective previous times. For example, the thirdhistorical ask quantity column 108 displays the available ask quantitiesat its respective time without reference to the ask quantities that wereavailable at previous times. Similarly, the second historical askquantity column 108 displays the available ask quantities for itsrespective time without reference to the ask quantities that wereavailable at previous times. The first historical ask quantity column106 also just displays the available ask quantity for its respectivetime.

In another preferred embodiment, the trading screen displays thehistorical data using an “aggregation” view. In the aggregation view,the historical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110 display a runningtotal of the historical data. For example, the historical ask quantitycolumns 106, 108, 110 can each display available ask quantities fromtheir respective times and from previous times. The third historical askquantity column 110 can display the available ask quantities at itsrespective time, and also possibly from previous times. The secondhistorical ask quantity column 108 can then display an ask quantity thatincludes the ask quantity outstanding at its respective time and alsofrom prior times, such as the ask quantity displayed in the thirdhistorical ask quantity column 110. The first historical ask quantitycolumn may also display an aggregated value, such as the available askquantity at its respective time and also at the available ask quantitydisplayed in the second historical ask quantity column 108. Using theaggregation view, the second historical ask quantity column 108 willgenerally display a value that is greater than the third historical askquantity column 110, and the first historical ask quantity column 106will generally display a value that is greater than the secondhistorical ask quantity column 108.

The time period used by the historical ask quantity columns 106, 108,110 may be any measure of time. For example, the time period may beseconds, minutes, hours or other measures of time. Of course, the timeperiod may also be fractions of seconds, minutes or hours. As shown inFIG. 1, the historical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110 display theavailable ask quantities at specified numbers of time periods prior tothe current time. It should be understood, however, that the specifiedtime period offsets from the current time for each of the historical askquantity columns 106, 108, 110 displayed in FIG. 1 is arbitrary, andother embodiments may use any other number of time period offsets. Forexample, it is not necessary that the first historical ask quantitycolumn 106 display the ask quantity available at one time period priorto the current time, but it may display the ask quantity available atany other time prior to the current time. Similarly, the otherhistorical ask quantity columns may also be modified to display theavailable ask quantities at any other number of time periods prior tothe current time.

In addition to varying the time period offsets of the historical askquantity columns 106, 108, 110, the number and/or order of historicalask quantity columns may be varied. As shown in FIG. 1, the tradingscreen includes three historical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110.However, other embodiments may use a greater or fewer number ofhistorical ask quantity columns. In another variation, the historicalask quantity columns 106, 108, 110 may be configured such that thehistorical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110 do not display theavailable ask quantities in an increasing time period offset. Thus, thefirst historical ask quantity column 106 may display the available askquantity at a time prior to that of the available ask quantity displayedin the second historical ask quantity column 108. The other historicalask quantity columns may be varied in a similar manner. A similar effectmay also be achieved by rearranging the order of the historical askquantity columns 106, 108, 110.

In a preferred embodiment, the historical ask quantity columns 106, 108,110 may be configured by a user. For example, the user may alter thetime period used in computing the historical ask quantities. In anotherexample, the user may alter the time period offset of one or more of thehistorical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110. In yet another example,the user may alter the number of historical ask quantity column 106,108, 110, or the user may alter the order of the historical ask quantitycolumns 106, 108, 110. Of course, the user may make other changes.

In addition to displaying historical market information for the askquantities, the trading screen of FIG. 1 displays historical marketinformation for the bid quantities. A first historical bid column 112displays bid quantities that were available at a previous time.Similarly, a second historical bid column 114 and a third historical bidcolumn 116 display available bid quantities for times prior to thecurrent time. As with the historical ask columns 106, 108, 110, thehistorical bid columns 112, 114, 116 may display historical data using asnapshot view or an aggregation view. The view used by the historicalask columns 106, 108, 110 may differ from the view used by thehistorical bid columns 112, 114, 116. Also, as with the historical askcolumns 106, 108, 110, it is not necessary that the historical bidcolumns 112, 114, 116 all use the same view.

As previously described with respect to the historical ask quantitycolumns 106, 108, 110, the historical bid quantity columns 112, 114, 116may be similarly configured. In a preferred embodiment, changes madewith respect to the historical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110 arealso made with respect to the historical bid quantity columns 112, 114,116. For example, if the time period is varied, then the new time periodwould apply to both the historical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110and the historical bid quantity columns 112, 114, 116. In a preferredembodiment, a change made with respect to one of the historical askquantity columns 106, 108, 110 is also made to the correspondinghistorical bid quantity column 112, 114, 116. For example, if the timeperiod offset of the first historical ask quantity column 106 is varied,then the time period offset of the first historical bid column 112 isalso varied. Of course, changes in the historical bid quantity columns112, 114, 116 may also be applied to the historical ask quantity columns106, 108, 110.

In an alternate embodiment, changes made with respect to the historicalask quantity columns 106, 108, 110 are not correspondingly made to thehistorical bid quantity columns 112, 114, 116. Similarly, in analternate embodiment, changes made with respect to the historical bidquantity columns 112, 114, 116 are not made with respect to thecorresponding historical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110. Forexample, the first historical ask quantity column 106 and the firsthistorical bid column 112 may be configured to use different time periodoffsets from the current time. In another example, the historical askquantity columns 106, 108, 110 and the historical bid quantity columns112, 114, 116 may use different time periods. In yet another example,the trading screen may display a different number of historical askquantity columns than historical bid quantity columns.

Other changes are also possible. In another preferred embodiment, theorder of the columns may be rearranged. For example, the order of thehistorical ask quantity columns 106, 108, 110 may be varied. Of course,the order of the historical bid quantity columns 112, 114, 116 may alsobe varied. In another embodiment, only the historical ask quantitycolumns 106, 108, 110 or only the historical bid quantity columns 112,114, 116 may be displayed. In another embodiment, the orientation of thedisplay may be changed from columns to rows. Of course, these examplesare not exhaustive, and other changes may also be made.

As shown in FIG. 1, for each price level generally includes an entry inone of the corresponding historical bid and ask quantity columns 106,108, 110, 112, 114, 116 for each previous time period. For example, the“18” price level includes a corresponding entry for time “t-1” in thefirst historical ask quantity column 106, it includes a correspondingentry for time “t-5” in the second historical bid column 114, and itincludes a corresponding entry for the time “t-10” in the thirdhistorical ask column 110. Thus, the “18” price level had either anoutstanding bid or ask quantity for the three previous times.

It should be understood, however, that a particular price level wouldnot necessarily always have either an outstanding bid or ask quantity.For example, the inside market can move away from a particular pricelevel, thereby decreasing the likelihood that a trader would place anorder at that price levels and that the price level would haveoutstanding bid or ask quantities. In another example, the tradingvolume may be light, and there may simply be no outstanding askquantities at one or more of the price levels even if it is closer tothe inside market. Of course may other reasons also exist for having nooutstanding ask quantities at one or more price levels.

In this case, the corresponding ask quantity cell may display a “0”,display nothing, or display some other indicator corresponding to nooutstanding quantity at that price level. For example, as shown in FIG.1, there is neither an outstanding bid or ask quantity at time “t-5” forthe “15” price level. Thus, the corresponding cells in the secondhistorical ask column 108 and the second historical bid column 114 donot indicate any available quantities. If there had been no availablequantity for an extended period of time, it is possible that all thecorresponding cells in the historical bid and ask quantity columns 106,108, 110, 112, 114, 116 would reflect no available quantities.

FIG. 2 is a preferred embodiment of the trading screen of FIG. 1 inwhich historical bid information and historical ask information arecombined into an interleaved display. As shown in FIG. 2, the pricecolumn 100 displays prices levels for tradeable objects. The current askquantity column 102 and the current bid quantity column 104 displaycurrently available ask and bid prices respectively.

In addition to displaying the current market information, the tradingscreen also displays historical market information. A first historicalcombined column 120 displays historical bid and ask information at atime prior to the current time. A second historical combined column 122and a third historical combined column 124 each display bid and askinformation at times prior to the current time. Thus, the firsthistorical combined column 120 may include ask quantities at a timeprior to the current time, and it may include bid quantities at the sametime prior to the current time. Similarly, the second historicalcombined column 122 and the third historical combined column 124 mayeach include ask quantities and bid quantities at their respective priortimes.

While the trading screen depicted in FIG. 1 uses separate historical askquantity columns 106, 108, 110 to display historical ask information andhistorical bid quantity columns 112, 114, 116 to display historical bidinformation, the trading screen depicted in FIG. 2 combines thehistorical bid and ask information into an interleaved display. Thus,the historical market information displayed in the historical askquantity and bid quantity columns 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116 of FIG. 1is interleaved for display in the historical combined columns 120, 122,124 of FIG. 2.

In a preferred embodiment, the historical combined columns 120, 122, 124may be color coded, for example, by using different background colorsfor bid information than for ask information. Color coding thehistorical combined columns 120, 122, 124 may allow a trader to easilydifferentiate those entries that represent a historical ask quantityfrom those entries that represent a historical bid quantity. Of course,the historical bid and ask information may be differentiated in otherways. In one alternate embodiment, different fonts (e.g., different fonttypes, different font colors, different font sizes or other differences)may be used to differentiate bid and ask information. In anotheralternate embodiment, the bid and ask information may be formatteddifferently. For example, the ask prices may be displayed by simplydisplaying the quantity, such as “41.” However, the bid quantities maybe bracketed, such as “[41]” or “(41)” in order to differentiate themfrom the ask quantities. Of course, the ask prices may also be otherwiseformatted in addition to or in place of the formatting for the bidprices, and formatting other than brackets may also be used.

FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred color-coding scheme for differentiatingbid and ask information in the trading screen of FIG. 2 in which onecolor is used for historical bid information and another color is usedfor historical ask information. As previously described, the historicalbid and ask information displayed in the trading screen of FIG. 2 may becolor-coded in order to differentiate between historical bid informationand historical ask information. This may be done, for example, by usinga different background color for displaying bid information than is usedfor displaying ask information. Thus, in the interleaved display of FIG.2, blocks in the historical combined columns 120, 122, 124 that displaybid information may be displayed using one background color while blocksthat display ask information may be displayed using another color.

FIG. 3 illustrates the background colors that may be used with thetrading screen of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, blocks in the historicalcombined columns 120, 122, 124 that include ask information are markedwith the identifier “RED.” Blocks in the historical combined columns120, 122, 124 that include bid information are marked with theidentifier “BLUE.” The identifiers “RED” and “BLUE” indicate preferredbackground colors that may be displayed in conjunction with the bid andask information. Thus, blocks that include ask information may bedisplayed with a red background, and blocks that include bid informationmay be displayed with a blue background. Of course, other embodimentsmay use any other colors to differentiate the historical bid and askinformation.

FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred color-coding scheme for differentiatingbid and ask information in the trading screen of FIG. 2 in whichmultiple colors are used to indicate historical bid volumes andhistorical ask volumes. In this preferred embodiment, bid and askinformation in the historical combined columns 120, 122, 124 may bedifferentiated using background colors. Further color differentiationsmay be made within the ask information and the bid information. Forexample, different shades of colors may be used to differentiatehistorical ask volumes, and different shades of colors may be used todifferentiate historical bid volumes.

As depicted in FIG. 4, different shades of one color family are used todifferentiate historical ask volumes, and different shades of anothercolor family are used to differentiate historical bid volumes. An asklegend includes three blocks 130, 132, 134, which indicate the colorshades used to display the historical ask volumes. The “CRAN” label inBlock 130 indicates that block in the historical combined columns 120,122, 124, that display an historical ask volume greater than 30 aredisplayed with a cranberry colored background.

Of course, the labels used in FIG. 4 are for illustration purposes, andmay be replaced with the actual colors in the trading screen. Forexample, instead of displaying the label “CRAN,” the trading screen maydisplay a cranberry colored background. Block 132 uses the “RED” labelto indicate that blocks having a historical ask volume between 11 and 30are displayed with a red background, while the “PINK” label in Block 134indicates that blocks having a historical ask volumes of 0 to 10 aredisplayed with a pink background.

While the red color family may be used to differentiate historical askvolumes, the contrasting blue color family may be used to differentiatehistorical bid volumes. A bid legend also includes three blocks 136,168, 140 that indicate the color shades used to display historical bidinformation. As indicated by the “NAVY” label in Block 136, blocks inthe historical combined columns 120, 122, 124 that display historicalbid volumes greater than 30 are displayed with a navy background. Block138, which includes that “BLUE” label, indicates that blocks displayinghistorical bid volumes between 11 and 30 are displayed with a bluebackground. The “SKY” label in Block 140 indicates that block displayinghistorical bid volumes from 0 to 10 are displayed with a sky bluebackground.

Many different variations may be made to the trading screen depicted inFIG. 4. In one alternate embodiment, different color shades may be usedto differentiate among the respective volume levels. In anotheralternate embodiment, colors other than red or blue may be used toindicate the bid and ask volumes. Of course, it is not necessary that aparticular color family be used for the bid or ask volume levels, butrather the colors indicating the various bid or ask volume levels may beunrelated. In another embodiment, a greater or fewer number of volumelevels may be used within the bid or ask volumes, and the bid and askvolumes may each include a different number of levels. In yet anotherembodiment, the ranges of the volume levels may vary. For example,ranges other than 0-10, 11-30 and 30+ may be used. Additionally, the bidlevel ranges may differ from the ask level ranges.

In another embodiment, the display may be a 3-dimensional display. Forexample, the color-coded cells may extend into a third dimension inorder to display the historical volumes. Any different orientation maybe used for the 3-d display. For example, in one embodiment thehistorical information may be displayed in a 3-d graph such that thex-axis represents quantity, the y-axis represents price, and the z-axisrepresents time (with z=0 being the current time). Of course, theseorientations are merely exemplary in nature other orientations can alsobe used.

In one embodiment, the 3-d graph can be displayed in conjunction withthe price column 100, ask column 102 and bid column 104, as shown inFIG. 4. In another embodiment, the 3-d graph may be displayed inrelation to a static axis of prices, but displayed apart from the pricecolumn 100, ask column 102 and/or bid column 104. In yet anotherembodiment, separate 3-d graphs for the historical ask information andhistorical bid information can be used, such as by displaying them onopposite sides of the price column 100.

FIG. 5 is a preferred embodiment of a trading screen for displayinghistorical market information using a graphical representation. Asdepicted in FIG. 5, the trading screen includes the price column 100,the current ask quantity column 102 and the current bid quantity column104. The trading screen additionally includes a graphical historicalcolumn 150, which may display a graphical representation of thehistorical bid and ask information at the different price levels.

As shown in FIG. 5, the graphical historical column 150 includes agraphical display of the historical volume information for each pricelevel. Block 152 includes a graph of the historical volume informationfor the “18” price level. Block 154 includes a graph of the historicalvolume information for the “17” price level, and Block 156 includes agraph of the historical volume information for the “16” price level.While FIG. 5 depicts the graphical historical column 150 in place of thehistorical bid and ask columns 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, it shouldbe understood that the graphical historical column 150 may be used onconjunction with one or more of the historical bid and ask columns 106,108, 110, 112, 114, 116.

FIG. 6A is a graph of the historical volume information displayed inBlock 152 of FIG. 5. FIG. 6A depicts the historical volume informationin a graphical format. A horizontal axis 170 provides a demarcationbetween ask volume information and bid volume information. Regions abovethe horizontal axis 170 generally denote historical ask quantityinformation while regions below the horizontal axis 170 generally denotehistorical bid quantity information; however, this orientation may bereversed.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the horizontal axis 170 progresses in time from thecurrent time, which is located at the far left of the graph, to anpredetermined earlier time at the far right of the graph. Alternatively,the orientation may be reversed such that the current time is at the farright of the graph, or another orientation may be used. A top region 172located above the horizontal axis 170 displays historical ask volumeinformation. The historical ask volumes are graphed with respect to avertical axis with greater volumes appearing further above thehorizontal axis 170. Thus, the graph in FIG. 6A depicts that, for thetime shown, this price level always had available ask volumes.

While FIG. 6A displays the historical volume information using a linegraph, it should be understood that any different type of graphicalrepresentation may be used. For example, alternate embodiments may othertypes of graphs, such as bar graphs. Additionally, the variousembodiments are not limited to using a 2-dimensional graph, which isdepicted in FIG. 6A. Rather, alternate embodiments may use a3-dimensional graph or any n-dimensional graph. Other types of graphs,such as bar graphs or plotted points, may also be used.

Other changes may also be made. For example, the orientation of the axesmay be changed. The time period represented by the graph may be changed.The scale of the graph may be changed. Also, one or more price levelsmay use one type of graph, while one or more of the other price levelsuse a different type of graph or use no graph at all. The variousfeatures of the graphs may also differ for different price levels.

FIG. 6B is a graph of the historical volume information displayed inBlock 154 of FIG. 5. FIG. 6B also displays the historical depthinformation in a graphical representation. The top region 172 displayshistorical ask information at this price level. Thus, the graph of FIG.6B indicates that this price level always has an available ask quantityover the depicted period of time.

FIG. 6C is a graph of the historical volume information displayed inBlock 156 of FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 6C, the graph includes a topregion 172 that displays historical ask information for this pricelevel. Additionally, a bottom region 174 displays historical bidinformation for this price level. Thus, the graph of FIG. 6C shows thatthis price level has had both outstanding bid quantities and outstandingask quantities at different times over the displayed time period. In apreferred embodiment, the top region 172 and bottom region 174 may becolor-coded to distinguish between the outstanding bid quantities andthe outstanding ask quantities. At point 176, the graph crosses thehorizontal axis 170, thereby indicating the point at which this pricelevel has neither an outstanding bid quantity nor an outstanding askquantity.

While FIG. 6C depicts an immediate transition from outstanding askquantities to outstanding bid quantities at this price level, it shouldbe understood that there can be gaps in time where there is no availablebid or ask quantity at this price level. Thus, the graph can display anextended separation between the top region 172 and the bottom region174, such as a straight line that extends along the horizontal axis 170,to reflect the time gap where there is no available bid or ask quantity.These transitions are merely examples, and the changes in availablequantities can cause the graph can transition between two different topregions or two different bottom regions. Also, the graph may includemore than one point where there is no available bid or ask quantity. Ifthere is no available bid or ask quantity for the entire time period ofthe graph, then the graph may just display a straight line and wouldgenerally not have a top region 172 or a bottom region 174.

It should be understood that the programs, processes, methods andapparatus described herein are not related or limited to any particulartype of computer or network apparatus (hardware or software), unlessindicated otherwise. Various types of general purpose or specializedcomputer apparatus may be used with or perform operations in accordancewith the teachings described herein. While various elements of thepreferred embodiments have been described as being implemented insoftware, in other embodiments hardware or firmware implementations mayalternatively be used, and vice-versa. In view of the wide variety ofembodiments to which the principles of the present invention can beapplied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments areexemplary only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of thepresent invention. For example, the steps of the flow diagrams may betaken in sequences other than those described, and more, fewer or otherelements may be used in the block diagrams.

The claims should not be read as limited to the described order orelements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the term“means” in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6,and any claim without the word “means” is not so intended. Therefore,all embodiments that come within the scope and spirit of the followingclaims and equivalents thereto are claimed as the invention.

We claim:
 1. A method for displaying historical market information, themethod comprising: displaying ask quantities for a plurality ofdifferent price levels, wherein the ask quantities are displayed inrelation to a static axis of prices; displaying bid quantities for theplurality of different price levels, wherein the bid quantities aredisplayed in relation to the static axis of prices; and displayinghistorical market information for at least one price level in the staticaxis of prices.